Viral Video Teaches Important Pool Safety Lesson

There’s a new viral video making its way around, and this one comes from all the way down in Australia. Krystal Hill, a mom in Perth, posted a cell phone video to Facebook of her 3-year-old son, Isaiah, and it comes with a valuable reminder for all pool-owning parents.

Hill explained the surprising event on the post saying, “I watched my 3-year-old who can’t swim independently yet, climb up and open the pool gate and then let himself and his little sister into the pool area. I am in a bit of shock at the moment!” As you can see from the video below, pool gates are a valuable tool, but they don’t replace adult supervision.

Hill explained to the Australian morning show “Sunrise” why she thought it was necessary to share the video, which has now been viewed over 2 million times. “It showed me that you can’t rely on a pool fence,” she said. “I think a lot of parents have the false sense of security that because the fence is there . . . they’re not gonna get into the pool area, but that took him less than a minute to get over that fence.”

In a second Facebook post, Hill reflected on the outpouring of response to her video. “If it prevents even just one child from drowning then I am happy,” she wrote. Hopefully, this video serves as a helpful reminder that pool safety measures, while extremely important, are never a substitute for close parent supervision. As the American Academy of Pediatrics states, parents should “never—even for a moment—leave children alone near open bodies of water, such as lakes or swimming pools, nor near water in homes.”